#1912 MAUSER GEWEHR 98 MANUAL#

As a substitute, beef or mutton tallow dissolved in petroleum could be substituted. It was to be used for barrel maintenance, lubrication moving parts, and general metal and wood preservation. Neatsfoot Oil was extracted from animal bones and horses' hooves by dry distillation. When the new GEW 98 rifles came out, the 'Instructions on the M 98 Rifle and Bayonet and its Ammunition' came out in 1899, it called for neatsfoot oil to be the universal cleaning agent. In 1908, the cleaning was modified to include a pierced brass plate to prevent damage to the firing pin when the bolt was stripped (the ancestor of the 'striping device' in the buttstock of the GEW 98 rifles after 1915). With the War, the numbers of cleaning rests were adjusted as one rest for every ten rifles or carbines. At peacetime strength, of 150 man companies, the six sets proved inadequate as the men had to line up to get a chance to use a cleaning rest. Initially, each company was issued seven sets of cleaning equipment, six to be used and one held in reserve. Armorers were issued steel brushes to clean out metal deposits form the bores. Cleaning rods cleaned the bores using grease or oil. A pierced steel cylinder with a hand grip called the 'assistance bolt' replaced the standard bolt to protect the breech area.

With the advent of the M1898 rifles, fixed cleaning tables or 'cleaning rests' with padded clamps and mounts were instituted. Previously, the M1888 rifles had been cleaned with water and cleaning rods. So, while attention to the outside of weapons was important, the real problem was the bore. The age old problem of field maintenance and the arch-enemy rust took a new turn with the change from Blackpowder to smokeless powder and the advent of corrosive primers. 'Peacetime' cleaning and maintenance had moved in the direction of uniformity and standardization. In the years before the outbreak of the War, there had been rapid development in the cleaning and maintenance practices in the German Army.

#1912 MAUSER GEWEHR 98 MANUAL#

This image of a armorer using a fixed cleaning table is from the original manual Transfeldts Dienstunterricht fГјr Kriegsrekruten der deutschen Infanterie by Adolf Transfeldt, E.

1912 mauser gewehr 98